HONG KONG, Oct 17 — Hong Kong stocks rose, after yesterday falling to a three-month low, after a Federal Reserve official spoke in favour of delaying the end of bond buying and US data boosted optimism. Casino shares and city developers advanced.

The Hang Seng Index gained 0.3 per cent to 22,970.25 as of 9.31am in Hong Kong, headed for a 0.5 per cent weekly. The measure closed yesterday at its lowest since June. 

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, also known as the H-share gauge, added 0.3 per cent to 10,213.39. Investors are waiting on a possible announcement today of the start date of a stock-trading link between Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.7 per cent today. The measure closed little changed yesterday, erasing a decline of as much as 1.5 per cent after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said policy makers should consider postponing the end of the asset-purchase program. Reports showed production at US factories rebounded, claims for jobless benefits fell to a 14-year low and households held the most optimistic views in two years.

The start date for the Hong Kong and Shanghai cross-border equity trading plan may be announced by the China Securities Regulatory Commission today, Hong Kong Economic Times reported yesterday. The plan will allow foreign investors unprecedented access to mainland stocks and give Chinese investors access to Hong Kong-listed equities.

Political unrest in Hong Kong and uncertainty about economic growth in China and Europe as well as US interest- rate policy helped drag Hong Kong’s benchmark equity gauge down 9.6 per cent from this year’s high through yesterday. The Hang Seng Index traded at 10.5 times estimated earnings yesterday, compared with 15.5 for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Protests continue

Student leaders of Hong Kong’s protests for democracy agreed to talks proposed by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying while vowing to remain in the streets. The protesters, whose numbers have swelled to as many as 200,000 people in the past three weeks, are demanding that China reverse a ruling that candidates for the election of Leung’s successor in 2017 be vetted by a committee. Leung said yesterday that the decision wasn’t negotiable. — Bloomberg